Tis’ the Season, for New Garden Vegetables

Tis’ the Season, for New Garden Vegetables

There has been a lot of harvesting and new planting since we last checked in on our gardens, so we wanted to update you! The summer and early fall brought LOTS of produce, including an abundance of okra and green beans. As the weather cools, our garden team and many volunteer groups have been hard at work preparing the garden for the winter months. This includes weeding the beds, pulling the summer plants, and planting seeds for winter.

Winter vegetables must be prepared for cold weather. Mark, our Garden Assistant, says that anything planted for winter has to be able to survive temperatures lower than Houston usually gets. This year that includes turnips, collards, beets, radishes, cabbage, carrots, and a community favorite – mustard greens. Small collards and radishes are already beginning to emerge in beds in small, tufted rows, while the carrots are just beginning to show their tops. Amidst the new growth remain the vining green bean plants, still giving small amounts of beans. Massive okra plants remain among the already large mustard greens.

The Garden Team has also been working to develop educational curriculum over the last year. They taught their first class last month to students from Cobb Sixth Grade Campus which is part of Galena ISD. The kids spent half their time learning in the garden and the other half volunteering in our warehouse. This fun, educational field trip was a great opportunity for the students to learn about food insecurity in our community and how to grow their own healthy food.

The changing of seasons is always refreshing. It’s a joy to enter the garden and see the natural shift in what’s growing. Gardening is an opportunity to reconnect with nature in our ever busier, technology led lives. If you’re looking to take a breath and get outside in this beautiful weather, we would love to have you join us in the garden! You can sign up to volunteer here – we always have something to do! We hope to see you in the garden soon!

By Target Hunger on December 3, 2021   /   All   /   Leave a comment